OpenAI Adds Long-Term Memory to ChatGPT for Smarter, Personalized AI

On April 10, 2025, OpenAI released a major memory upgrade to ChatGPT that allows it to recall information from all your previous conversations. 

This update, available to Plus and Pro users, makes the chatbot more personal, consistent, and useful—especially for professionals who rely on it for writing, planning, or technical help.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed the rollout in a post on X, calling it one of the most exciting updates yet.

we have greatly improved memory in chatgpt–it can now reference all your past conversations!

this is a surprisingly great feature imo, and it points at something we are excited about: ai systems that get to know you over your life, and become extremely useful and personalized.

— Sam Altman (@sama) April 10, 2025

What Changed

ChatGPT now has two types of memory:

1. Saved Memories: You can tell ChatGPT to remember things like your name, preferences, or goals.
2. Chat History Reference: The system automatically recalls details from past conversations, even if you didn’t ask it to.

This means you won’t need to reintroduce your background or repeat instructions every time you chat. Whether you’re managing a brand, working on a long-term project, or writing a book, ChatGPT can now keep track of the context for you.

Starting today, memory in ChatGPT can now reference all of your past chats to provide more personalized responses, drawing on your preferences and interests to make it even more helpful for writing, getting advice, learning, and beyond. pic.twitter.com/s9BrWl94iY

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) April 10, 2025

User Control Comes First

You’re always in control of what ChatGPT remembers. You can turn the memory off at any time, review or delete specific memories, and start temporary chats that don’t store any data. 

Sensitive topics like health information won’t be remembered unless you explicitly request it. 

OpenAI has updated the settings with two clear options: one to enable or disable saved memories (the manual type where you tell ChatGPT what to remember) and another for chat history reference, which allows the AI to recall details from previous conversations automatically. This setup ensures transparency and gives you full authority over your data.

Who Gets It—and Who Doesn’t

This feature is only available to Plus and Pro subscribers. Free users still have access to saved memories but not chat history recall.

It’s also not available in the UK, Switzerland, and other parts of Europe yet. Data privacy regulations in these countries are the likely reason for the delay.

Enterprise and Education accounts have had increased memory since February 2025, and admins can manage these features across teams.

Why It Matters for Professionals

If you use ChatGPT for work, this changes everything:

• Marketers can maintain brand voice without restating it every time.
• Writers can continue drafts or projects without starting from scratch.
• SEO experts can build strategies that evolve across sessions.
• Students and educators can manage long-term learning plans.

Custom GPTs Will Get Memory Soon

Right now, custom GPTs don’t support memory. But OpenAI says this will change soon. Each GPT will have its own separate memory system—isolated from others and from the main ChatGPT.

This will allow you to build specialized bots—one for fitness, one for writing, one for business—each with its own memory.

How to Use the New Memory Feature

Getting started is simple, and a few quick steps can help you make the most of what this upgrade offers.

• Go to settings and turn on “Chat History Reference”
• Ask ChatGPT: “Describe me based on our past chats”
• Say “Remember that…” to save something or “Forget that…” to delete it
• Use temporary chats when you want a clean slate

The more you use memory, the more tailored your responses will be.

Key Takeaways

• ChatGPT can now remember past conversations across sessions.
• This is only for Plus and Pro users—free users don’t get full memory.
• You have full control—turn it off or delete what you don’t want remembered.
• It’s not yet available in some European countries.
• Memory for custom GPTs is coming soon.